Helping students make the most of work experience
Two recent reports from City & Guilds and the UK Commission for Employment and Skills have highlighted the importance of work experience for students.
However, both sets of research found that some young people are not making the most of work experience opportunities and that work needs to be done to help make them more effective.
Ensuring that young people make the most of work experience opportunities is vital. The opportunity for students to develop an early understanding of what employers need from them is an important step in making a successful transition into work.
Central to this is helping young people to explore career options. Kudos enables students to see the occupations which best suit their interests. Kudos Inspire also allows them to see how their skills match those needed in different careers. This helps students to develop ideas about where they could do their work experience.
Careerscape provides videos and real-lives case studies which show real work environments. This enables students to understand what they could expect from doing work experience in different jobs.
Careerscape’s Career Families are also useful for students who know that they want to do work experience in a certain industry but are unsure of which specific area or type of organisation they want to focus on. Students can explore a wide range of occupations, including journalism, pharmacy, hospitality, working with computers and caring careers.
There is also a wealth of advice in Careerscape to help students prepare for their work experience. This includes videos of young people on work experience discussing why they chose their placement and how they believe it will help them in the future.
Until 31st July 2013, existing Kudos subscribers can upgrade by adding Careerscape to their subscription for just £125, saving £110. This price applies to a one-year site licence and excludes VAT. To order, please click here.